


Her Spear

by WinterWolf773



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Discovery, Friendship, Gem War, Other, Sparring, kinda Bispearl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 13:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18344642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterWolf773/pseuds/WinterWolf773
Summary: Set around the middle of the Gem War.  Rose is off on a solo mission and Pearl is anxious.  Bismuth decides to distract her by sparring with her and Pearl summons her weapon for the first time.Very, very, very vaguely Bispearl, but more a friendship at this point.





	Her Spear

Rose had gone on a solo mission again, leaving Pearl behind. To everyone else, Pearl was unaffected and as in charge as ever. When Rose was away, the Crystal Gems reported to Pearl, Garnet, or Bismuth and she kept a strict training regimen that was distinctly tactical with scouting missions, resource retrieval, and base defense updates. Most of the Gems assumed Rose made all the tactical decisions and just left Pearl with instructions, but the more Bismuth watched the Renegade, the more she believed it was mostly the other way around, in fact, she was pretty sure Pearl was even better at it than Rose.

 

The more Bismuth watched the Renegade too, the more she saw how distinctly disheveled she was. She hid her emotions well, a combination of survival on Homeworld as a pearl and her natural personality. The signs were invisible to everyone else, but plain as day to Bismuth. She understood though, as Bismuth and Pearl were getting closer, the blacksmith noticed Pearl liked distinct boundaries in different aspects of her life. As the Renegade around camp, she was mostly emotionless, commanding, and precise. She had gained a strong voice in the first hundred years of the rebellion and clawed for a hard-earned respect that most Crystal Gems never questioned. It was rare now that she even had to put a new recruit in their place because of her reputation and heeded warnings from Crystal Gem veterans.

 

In the Forge though, when it was just the two of them, Bismuth got to see a different Pearl. The one that worried and fought an ever-looming sense of dread. One filled with passion and a burning desire to understand how everything worked. Bismuth could bring out a confidence in Pearl she never saw with anyone else either, not just the confidence of a weapons expert on the battlefield, but a confidence that she belonged, she deserved the space she was in and for her thoughts to be heard. Bismuth wished it was a side of Pearl more got to see, that relaxed aura of someone who had been denied worth but found it anyway was beautiful to her after all. There were also the times when Pearl would sob and heave, finally overburdened by all of the emotions she had locked away and they would cradle each other and cry together, both of them supporting each other's release of anguish.

 

After the orders had been given and all the Crystal Gems were on task, Garnet offered to take charge so that Bismuth and Pearl could work on weapons and armor or take a break. Initially they both went to the Forge, but Pearl could not relax enough to focus on the work. Bismuth knew she wouldn't talk about Rose, another separation in her life Pearl built.

 

“Hey, how about we head to the ruins of the Sky Arena?” Bismuth offered, “Been a while since we've had a chance for a one-on-one sparring session, and I'm not really in the sword-making mood at the moment.”

There was a quick upturn of Pearl's mouth that almost became a smile, she suspected Bismuth was mostly just trying to comfort her, but she appreciated the gesture all the same. With a heavy sigh she nodded, “That would be best, maybe once I get some of this anxious energy out I'll be able to focus.”

 

*****

Pearl drew her swords as Bismuth shifted her hands to hammers, there was a moment of intense staring as the wind blew their hair. The stare-down turned to smiles and giggles, then Pearl broke the tension with a charge. The two sparred for quite some time, slowly Pearl became less stiff as she relaxed and focused. Soon for the both of them the rest of the world melted away and their thoughts were consumed by the moment. They were both searching for a chance to get the upper hand, striking, parrying, dodging, footwork, a complex dance with the deadly flash of a blade and occasional glow as Bismuth shifted her hands to various tools and weapons.

 

Bismuth managed to catch Pearl's swords when she shifted her hands to axes and flung them a great distance. Pearl dodged the next blow that Bismuth had intended to pin her with, but the slender Gem was now farther from her weapons. There was a flash of light from Pearl's gem and, without really thinking about it, she instinctively grabbed whatever was forming. The spear glowed as Pearl retrieved it and lowered her stance, still focused on the spar. Then it dawned on her what she just did and she gawked at the foreign weapon in her hands. Bismuth had paused her attack and stood with her mouth agape, “It's a spear, your own spear, Pearl, oh, Pearl,” a huge grin broke out on Bismuth's face, “You have your own weapon!”

 

The surprise finally washed away as Pearl shook her head and then squealed in delight, “I have my own weapon! Eee, Bismuth!” She puffed out her chest, one hand going to her hip as the other proudly held the spear to her side.

Bismuth walked over and began commenting on the design: elegant, tactical, piercing, multi-purposed, and so perfectly Pearl.

Pearl nodded, her face all smile and her eyes shining brightly, “I have absolutely no idea how to use it!”

The both broke into laughter and Bismuth clapped a large hand onto her friend's shoulder, they kept laughing and laughing until their sides hurt and they had small tears in their eyes.

 

Pearl sucked in a deep breath to stop her giddy laughter and wiped her eyes, “I've only been using swords. What the heck am I supposed to do with this?”

Bismuth stalled her own laughter too, “Well, I mean, it's kinda like a sword? It has a pointy end at least?”

They laughed again and then stifled it.

Pearl inspected her spear again, grinning, _her_ spear, she liked the sound of that, “Well, if I can teach myself how to use a sword I can certainly learn this too.”

“Pfft, I have no doubts on that. And think, if they call you the Terrifying Renegade now, imagine what they're gonna call you when they see you with _that._ Your own weapon, _your_ spear, another blade to pierce through the Uppercrust's bullshit and prove even further that you are as much of a gem as any of us.”

Pearl nodded, “Homeworld won't know what hit them.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been having a hard time with motivation on my in progress stories, but they're coming along. This idea hit me hard though so decided to make it a quick little oneshot. ...this may be saved on my laptop as Pierce the Heavens as a reference to Gurren Laggan because I could just not think of a good title. I might change it to something else later, but Her Spear works for now I guess. Hope you enjoy! Kudos and comments always appreciated <3


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